CHARLES "DUKE" KRAMER

Charles Duke Kramer first joined the Gretsch company at their Chicago office in 1935. When Kramer first retired in 1980, he formed D & F Products. In late 1981, when Baldwin lost a lease on one of their small production plants, Kramer went out and bought any existing guitar parts (about three 42-foot semi-trailers worth!). While some were sold back to the revitalized Gretsch company in 1985, Kramer still made the parts available through his D & F Products company. Duke passed away on July 28, 2005 at the age of 88.